Ballroom project (excerpt)

​

... The line is a fundamental element in Johan Gelper’s sculptures – be it the smooth, arcing contours of his ‘spatial drawings’ or the sharp, clustered spikes of his ‘botanicals’. His drawings in space become energetic open sculptures as we walk around them, incorporate their movement and as they invite us to engage in an embodied dance.

​

His playful method of tracing discovers, draws, and accentuates a movement that seems to connect the immaterial world with the reality of tangible objects.  His works are a synthesis of the industrial and the natural, the geometric and the organic. The precision of his constructions with different mediums and techniques is always a playful elevation of everyday objects. Gelper creates a cyclical movement with found objects or previous sculptures that are transformed into something new. His sculptures can be assembled and disassembled.

​

With an effortless incorporation of different styles and artists from dadaism to constructivism, he engages in a playful dance with art history while creating a humorous, ironic reflection on our time.

​

​

Yirka De Brucker, 2019